Sewing-machine shuttle



(ModeL) "E. S. YENTZER.

SEWING MACHINE SHUTTLE.

No. 243,750. Patented'July 5, 18 81.

N. PETERS, Pholwumn n hu, Wauhinghn, DJ.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENOOH S. YENTZER, OF OTTAWA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO ALBERT E. GIBBS, OF SAME PLACE, AND GEORGE A. GODARD, OF BRISTOL, ILLINOIS.

SEWlNG-MACHINE SHUTTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,750, dated July 5, 1881.

Application filed J nly 14, 1880.

This invention relates to sewing-machine shuttles, and the object of the same is to facilitate the threading of the shuttle, hold the thread in proper position while being drawn off the bobbin, provide for passage of knotted portions of thread between the tension-spring and body of the shuttle, and also provide means whereby the tension of the tensionspring of the shuttle may be increased or decreased without removing the shuttle from its place in the raceway.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination, with a shuttle-body which is provided with a peculiar heel-notch, a slot in the edge of one of its sides for the insertion of the thread, and a depression in its side, of a tension-spring fastened at one of its ends to the pointportion of the shuttle-body, andprovided with a hook, a bend or bulge, a curved finger, and an adjusting tension-screw applied between its hooked end and its fastened end, the

combination being such that a thread from the bobbin can be passed between the spring and the body of the shuttle, then into the slot, and then upon the curved hook in a very ready manner, it not being necessary to pass the end of the thread through round holes, and when the shuttle is thus threaded the thread will be kept perfectly in place, freedom for passage of knots or kinks in the thread will be afforded, and the tension-spring can be made to bear light or heavy by simply setting up the screw,

' which can be done without removing the shuttle from the seat. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved shuttle complete, showing its bobbin or spool, tension device, and lead-bar, and also showing the thread applied upon the lead-bar and tension-spring. Fig. 2 is a central horizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tension-sprin g of the shut- (Model.)

tle. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section in the line w w of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a top view of the shuttle, the spring being removed. Fig.

6 is a transx'erse section in the line y yof Fig.

4. Fig. 7 is also a transverse section, but in the line z z of the same figure.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

A is a shuttle-body, and B a spool or bobbin. The body A is provided on its lower inner side with a lead-bar, a, which is fastened by one of its ends to said body, and bears with its other curved end, d against the same. This bar acts like a spring, and its curved end a can be pressed away from the body-by the 'sidewise pressure of the thread upon its curved end. The upper side of the body A of the shuttle is provided with a skeleton tensionspring, 0, which is suitably attached to it, said spring being provided with a set or adjusting screw, 0, which screws into a hole in the upper side of the body of the shuttle. The forward end, 0, of the spring 0 is of greater thickness than the reduced portion at 0 which is opposite the head of the set-screw c, and by this construction the upper part of the spring is caused to bear more or less forcibly against the thread which is passed between it and the body of the shuttle. when the set-screw is drawn or forced toward the body A more or less. A steady-pin, 0 inserted into the body of the shuttle and passed through the thicker part of the spring, serves to prevent any lateral movement of the spring until the spring is soldered to the body of the shuttle. The heel of the shuttle-body A is provided with a notch or depression, a, of nearly V or U form into which the free end of the tension-spring enters, said free end of the spring being bent first at right angles to the length of the shuttle-body'and then parallel to the same, and thus made to form a hooking-eye which will admit the sewin g-thread between the body of the shuttle and the spring by a sidewise pressure of the thread between the hooking-eye and'the depressed portion of the shuttle-body. The hooking end 5 c of the tension-spring is turned into the notch or depression a, and is made to abut against the body of the shuttle, it being allowed a little play outward from the body so as to admit the sewing-thread between it and the body of the shuttle when sufficient pressure is applied against it. The normal position of the hooking end is such that it always bears against the body of the shuttle on the side of the notch nearest the center of the shuttle. The body of the shuttle is also provided with an inclined slot, a said slot being near the center of the length of the body A and in the upper side. Opposite the lower end of this slot a bulge is made in the upper part of the spring 0, as indicated at 0 in order to permit knots, kinks, and other thick or irregular portions of the sewing-thread to pass between the spring and the outer side of the body of the shuttle without being caught at the corner of the notch (1 In front of the bulge c a downwardly-inclined curved finger, 0 is provided on the upper part of the spring 0, which enters a depression, a in the upper side of the shuttlebody A, and thus holds up the thread or prevents it from slipping out of its proper position in respect to the spring 0 and body of the shuttle. The lower arm, a", of the spring G steadies the spring laterally, and serves also as a guide for the thread afterit leads off from the finger c The bobbin B is hung between a rigid center, 1), in the rear portion or the shuttle and a center block, b, fitted into and sliding horizontally in a longitudinal direction, in a suitable bearing, a at the front part of the shuttle-body, and its movement is limited by a vertical stop-pin, b attached to it in a suita ble manner, which pin plays in a slot or hole, (1?, in the shuttle-body. A spring, N, is inserted into the bearing a in front of the center block, I), and by this spring the requisite tension for holding the spool or bobbin is secured.

When the spring 0 is fastened to the shuttlebody, itis raised slightly from the shuttlebody, in order that by the tension set-screw c it shall be pressed down. against the thread between the spring and the shuttle-body, and thus the proper tension on the thread produced.

As the frictional surfaces in front of the bulge b is comparatively short, the stitching of the work being sewed cannot be disarranged more than a couple of stitches before any unevenness of the thread has passed through the tension device at said point If. The finger c enters the depression a just deep enough not to allow the slack thread to catch under it as the thread is moved back and forth; at the same time there is room enough to draw the thread under the finger into the depression a when threading the shuttle. The notch or being deeper at the straightside of the shuttlebody than toward the curved or rear side, and the lower part of the shuttle projecting a trifle beyond the hooking-end, a guard is thus formed whereby the slack thread is prevented from getting behind the hook and becoming disarranged; but there is sufficient room to allow the thread to slip under the hooking-end and behind the spring in threading the shuttle, and to allow the shuttle to be raised out of its race by means of an instrument or the fingernail inserted beneath the spring 0.

To thread the improved shuttle, the bobbin is so inserted that the thread runs off next to the lead-bar a, the shuttle being held heel off and point to the operator. The thread is slipped over the lead-bar and drawn into the notch at until it passes around and into the hook c of the spring 0, and it is then drawn over the side of the shuttle toward its point, whereby it is caused to enter the slot a move around the finger c and into the depression 64 when the threading is completed.

The use of the lead-bar a may be dispensed with, and the thread will then pass from the spool directly to the slot a under the bulge 0 next to the finger c and off from the hook c as before.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a shuttle is produced wherein facilities are afforded for threading it by an edgewise insertion of the thread into the respective openings and notches provided for this purpose, and that the thread is securely confined in position,while freedom for passage of knots and kinks of the thread is afforded; and also that the degree of tension can be adjusted without removing the shuttle from its seat, as the tension-screw 0 can be reached with a screw-driver as soon as the sliding cover above the shuttle is removed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The shuttle-body provided with the heelnotch a, of thepeculiar construction described, the slot (0 and depression a in combination with the tension-sprin g 0, provided with hook 0, adapted to form of notch a, bend or bulge c curved finger 0", and the tension-screw c, all in such manner that a sewingmachine shuttle which is easily threaded by a sidewise insertion of the thread, and which allows knots and kinks to pass between the tensionspring and the body of the shuttle, and whose tension can be increased or decreased while the shuttle is in its seat,is produced,substantially as set forth.

ENOOH S. YENTZER. 

